Thursday, December 17, 2009

Cleveland Orchestra: Eileen Ivers - An Irish Christmas

"Wow." I entered the hall with some pessimism and left with none.

While certainly not the orchestra's traditional fare, this evening's concert was incredibly energizing. The Orchestra played the role of idle audience to Ms. Ivers and band for a larger chunk of the program than I would have liked, but all were thrilling to listen to.

It appeared that everyone -- including the orchestra, and most notably Mr. Feddeck was enjoying themselves; I think I can safely say I've never noticed a conductor's head bobbing so vigorously. I have also never seen so many players pour so much energy into their music; I nearly worked up a sweat just watching. It's hard to pinpoint one specific favorite piece, but opening with A Christmas Festival, while not as wildly energetic as some of the later pieces, certainly made for great listening, as did Parchelbel's Frolics

The crowd was a willing participant in the show, and I was not unaffected by the surplus of energy... tapping my foot through a large part of the show, and during the encore succumbing to the rhythmic clapping. Also of note were the number of first time or rare guests to Severance in attendance.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow evening's concert, but for now... I need to be at work in the morning ;)